


The Cool Hand Carmen Caper

by KeepCaliforniaDreamin



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Breaking Bad References, Carmen Sandiego new identity, Carmen Sandiego prison, Dissociative Identity Disorder, F/M, Mystery, Player's house, Prison, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, The Sopranos references, Therapy, Thriller, girls in prison, prison stripes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeepCaliforniaDreamin/pseuds/KeepCaliforniaDreamin
Summary: Carmen wakes up inside a prison seemingly run by V.I.L.E. except she now has a new identity and her past seemed like just a dream. Now racked with an identity crisis Carmen must figure out who in the world she is while trying to figure out what VILE's latest plot is joined only by Ivy, meanwhile, Zack, Shadowsan, and Player work overtime trying to find the missing duo while they uncover a massive mystery which will might be the upheaval of them all! This will be a story which challenges your mind! Leave a comment and enjoy.
Relationships: Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep/Gray | Crackle
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Dazed and Incarcerated

Carmen Sandiego didn't have a lot of life goals. She was a twenty year old anti-hero raised by thieves trying to right the wrongs of her upbringing. She was torn between V.I.L.E. and A.C.M.E. trying on one hand to steal from V.I.L.E. while trying to remain above reproach from A.C.M.E. who was constantly on her tail. At the end of the day she had a small and close circle of confidants she could (usually) rely on and a rogues gallery of foes trying in a variety of ways to do her in. Most girls her age are just trying to muddle through their sociology class so they can get to the weekend and make questionable and suspect life decisions.

No, Carmen Sandiego was not your average twenty year old, but she certainly made her mark in a short time span. She was also very good at alluding all the various foes trying to either kill her or incarcerate her. But it seemed like that luck had finally run out…

We fade in on some fluorescent lights and hear the familiar beep of heart monitors. We get a few quick shots of empty hospital beds with a scant few filled. We get a close-up on one bed, a medical chart on the side of the bed reads: PRISONER FM874409 MONTOYA, FELINA. HEAD TRAUMA, COMATOSE.

Next a close-up on this strange individual. Yup, it's Carmen. She's seen better days. Her forehead is wrapped in a bandage. Her nostrils are hooked up to plastic hoses leading to an oxygen tank while an IV drip hung on a rack by the heart monitor and was attached at a needle in her right forearm. Heart monitor patches are on her chest which make steady beeps on the monitor. She's not only far from home, as you could guess, but isn't sporting her crime-fighting chic look including her trademark red fedora and duster jacket. We fade out more and see what she's actually wearing. Carmen now sports a tight shirt and pants emblazoned in black and white prison stripes while both her wrists are handcuffed to the sides of the bed.

Suddenly, the beeps get less intermittent…then grow a bit faster…then faster, and now this alerted the nurse nearby. She's dressed like any scary looking nurse circa 1953. "My word" she called down the infirmary. "Doctor! It's Montoya!"

A white-coat clad doctor rushes over. He is wearing a COVID-19 ready N95 mask covering his face, but has a familiar creepy frame and white hair. "Is she coding?"

"No-I think…I think she's waking up."

A few moments later the monitor flatlines but then suddenly the beeps become more steady. Carmen's eyes open up. From her POV, we see she's dizzy, especially around her bandaged head. Carmen's eyes finally focus and her first image are these two creepy looking healthcare professionals.

"What? Wh-where am I?" she asked as anyone would.

"Ms. Montoya, glad to see you're back with us" The doctor said, taking a peek at her chart. "Head trauma. Tsk-tsk-tsk, if I've told you girls once, I've told you a thousand times, the chow line is a terrible place for beat-downs. But then again, so is anyplace in this concrete monstrosity."

"Montoya? What are you ta—" Carmen's questions were cut short after she realized she wasn't going anywhere. She looked to her sides, realizing she was restrained to the bed in which she lay. She then got a glimpse of her outfit. "What happened? Seriously, where am I?" she asked, becoming increasingly frightened.

"Oh my, I figured as much" the doctor huffed, lowering his mask to Carmen's horror. "Must be a mild case of amnesia."

"Maelstrom!"

A thunder clap boomed outside as Carmen stared at the "doctor" for it was none other than Gunnar Maelstrom, V.I.L.E.'s resident psychopathic instructor of manipulation and psychopathy. "That's Dr. Maelstrom to you, prisoner" he blurted. "Amnesia is no excuse to be rude, Ms. Montoya."

"There it is again. Knock it off, Maelstrom—Dr, Maelstrom or whatever, you know who I am!" Carmen huffed.

"I do, and unless I've gone senile your name is Felina Montoya" he explained, showing Carmen her chart.

"What? What kind of sick game is this? You've captured me, good for you. Is this your way of confusing me so I can be some sort of puppet for V.I.L.E.?"

The nurse and Gunnar looked at one another, very confused. "My word, I was hoping we can get you back to the general population when you awoke but I think you may need to remain for some more observation" Gunnar explained with a strange tone of concern in his voice. He took out a pen light from his jacket pocket and tried to look at Carmen's eyes. Carmen shook her head.

"Obser—what? What is this place, Maelstrom?" Carmen struggled, trying in vain to free herself.

"It's home for you, runt" Another familiar voice boomed nearby

Carmen turned her head to the door. She knew that voice. It was gruff and southern, like if you went to your Meema's house and disrespected her or spilled your sweet tea. Carmen's eyes narrowed.

"Coach Brunt. What a surprise, you're in on this too" she groaned.

Brunt stood in the doorway and sported a much more wicked grin than usual. Her strange green hair in that weird hairdo remained the same but Brunt was no longer sporting her tracksuit which would have only fit her and Tony Soprano (And Bobby Baccalieri too). Instead, she wore a brown button down with a badge, and even darker brown pants complete with a utility belt fit for your friendly neighborhood police officer.

"That's correctional officer Brunt. Jeez, Sheena must've really knocked the wind outta ya. You lost the fight, if you haven't guessed" Brunt mused, approaching the bed. "Figured if I'd poke my head in each day I'd see you wake up."

"So, what? No one's gonna explain what this is?" Carmen asked.

"Do the math, pumpkin. It ain't that hard" Brunt groused. She turned to Maelstrom and the Nurse. "I appreciate you nursing one of my little lambs back to health doc, but I'll take her back to the rest of the flock now."

"Are you insane, Brunt? She's suffering from very bad amnesia. She must stay, I insist on it" Gunnar pleaded.

"There's no better memory jogger than being thrown back into the fire, that's what I always say" Brunt mused.

"Guess I'm not "lambkins" anymore? Pity" Carmen scoffed.

"You ain't no lambkins of mine, runt" Brunt spat. "Just another number" she then turned to Maelstrom. "If you insist, I suppose I'll have to get the warden involved. He's really interested in keeping these beds empty. Never know when a state inspector will make an unexpected visit."

Gunnar sighed. "Fine. But when she falls into another coma, I'll remember this, but, I want her here each day for welfare checks and perhaps a prescription for painkillers" Gunnar insisted.

"Come on Gun, you know all the knock-arounds get hooked on those things" Brunt added.

"She comes back for daily welfare checks. No exceptions."

"Fine, just leave Ms. Montoya to me."

"Very well" Gunnar said, then turning to an extremely confused Carmen. "I'll see you tomorrow, get well, Felina. Come Nurse, it's time for rounds" Gunnar said. He and the nurse vanished after removing Carmen's heart monitor's and oxygen hose.

"Felina…Montoya?" Carmen parroted. (It's pronounced Fel-EEN-uh by the way.)

"Now how we doin' this, hon?" Brunt asked, holding a set of handcuff keys in her hand. "The easy way, or the hard way?" Carmen looked as Brunt's right hand wrapped around the black polymer grip of a Glock pistol sheathed in a brown leather holster on her hip, certainly an odd feature for a prison guard.

Confused beyond recognition, Carmen tried to keep a cool head. "What, you're resorting to firearms now? Not exactly your style, no? Getting too old for bear hugs?"

Brunt huffed. She put the handcuff keys away and took out a black nightstick on the other side of her belt, sticking the end right under Carmen's chin. "You know you're gettin' real cute with me, Montoya. Guess that bump on the head really made you forget who's in charge here."

"How about you drop the act and call me by my name—my REAL name, or Black Sheep or whatever."

Brunt laughed. "Okay, I'll humor you. What shall I call you, princess?"

"You know, already! Carmen Sandiego" she huffed.

"Ooh, that's rich. Why? Monica Santa Monica already taken? Well how 'bout Josie San Jose? Susy Sacramento, maybe? No wait, I got it; Claire Santa Clara. I ain't ever been to Commie-fornia but I could do this all day" Brunt chuckled.

"Look, I'm not in the mood, so can you just get on with whatever V.I.L.E. scheme you want me to do so I can tell you no and you put me in some sort of peril?" Carmen sighed.

"Vile? The "vile" one around here is you, Montoya. You and all the other scum-sucking inmates in this hellhole."

"Coach, seriously. Props on the acting. You play the despicable Texas prison guard to a T-it suits you, in a different life I bet you could give Sgt. Schultz a run for his money. But please, you know me. Professor Maelstrom knows me, too. I'm not Felina Montoya, I'm Carmen Sandiego."

Out of patience, Brunt threw the broad end of the stick against Carmen's throat. She got up close and personal.

"Listen and listen good, sweetheart" Brunt began. "You have five seconds to get in your restraints, knock off this amnesia hooey, and follow me to your cell, else Dr. Maelstrom is gonna be cleaning your brain matter off these drab gray walls" Carmen could feel Brunt's spit land on her face as she choked through being given a Darryl Gates special from the nightstick. "Or maybe, maybe that's too harsh. Maybe you just need a few weeks in the hole to clear that clouded little mind of yours?"

Carman held her breath as she stared directly into Brunt's eyes. She didn't seem like she was acting. She was serious. And there was something sinister the way she said "the hole", something was slowly creeping up on Carmen that maybe this wasn't amnesia. "Now then, I'll ask one last time, easy way…or hard way?"

Carmen was losing breath but was able to choke out "Easy…way!"

"Good girl. I thought so" Brunt moved the nightstick away and Carmen choked out some much needed breaths. When her vision and breathing returned to normal, Carmen was greeted by another guard, who greatly resembled one of the Isle of V.I.L.E. cleaners. He had a belt restraint, which locked the wrists in place and was attached to a metal belt. Carmen stared in horror at the contraption but acquiesced, she was very befuddled and had little choice in the matter…temporarily that is.

Earlier…ST. NAZAIRE, FRANCE. 

We switch gears a little. Rain, thunder, and lighting clash as were on the shores of coastal France. Near the town of St. Nazaire right by the beach we see a body floating atop the choppy Atlantic waters. The actually living body moved and stood in the few feet of water just feet off of the beach. He choked water as he stood up.

"Ach-ach! Aw man, everything hurts! That's saltier than the taffy on Martha's Vineyard" that Boston accent belonged to none other than Zack.

He was slowly regaining his hearing as there was a ringing in his hear but he heard a lot of pops and stuff whizzing past him. It was stormy and dark, perfect time to forget your surroundings. As Zack's sight was restoring he saw a blob get closer and closer to him, seemingly shouting at the Bostonian.

"What?" Zack called.

"Get down!"

Zack barely heard the command before he was tackled under the water. Zack felt an arm grab onto him while another arm swam them both. They resurfaced as the two swam to an awaiting dinghy, anchored in the choppy ocean. The arm threw Zack into the boat before this unidentified good-Samaritan hopped in too. He started the inadequate outboard motor and hoisted the anchor, sailing away from their pursuers.

A nearby lighthouse shined their way and Zack finally got a look, it was Shadowsan. "Oh! Shadowsan! I thought your arms felt familiar."

"Can you be oblivious somewhere else, please? Get my laptop and get Player. We need an extraction, now!"

Shadowsan threw Zack a laptop in a waterproof case from a bag he had with him. Zack fired up the Wifi hotspot. The two barely managed to allude two helicopters shining spotlights down on the ocean. After some fancy footwork, they managed to escape the dragnet.

"I can't get a clear signal!" Zack called, his brain finally coming back to—let's call it normal. "Where's Ivy? And Carm?"

"I don't know, Zack" Shadow-san said ominously.

"Wha? You don't know? What kinda answer is that?"

"The kind where A.C.M.E. is surrounding us and if we stay one second longer we're doomed!" Shadowsan yelled.

"Good answer" Zack nodded. He finally got a signal, and Player came online.

"Guys! You got a major situation!" the boy genius bellowed from a video call.

"You're telling me. Carman and Ivy are gone!" Zack bellowed.

"I can't get a signal on them."

"Player! We need transport to get out of St. Nazaire!" Shadowsan called.

"Chopper inbound" Player assured them. "It's a new model, flies undetected with radar."

"Perfect for looking for our two missing comrades" Shadowsan explained.

"Wicked!" Zack smiled, pounding his fist into his palm, it's Go-Time! "We're not gonna let them put Carmen Sandiego and my sister on ice!"

"We'd better hurry then" Shadowsan warned. The helicopter they sought appeared, landing just above their boat. A rope ladder fell down, and the two climbed it, back in the hunt for Carmen and Ivy.

Back to the A plot, Carmen, now restrained, walked confusedly down the drab and dungeon-like halls of the place that greatly resembled every dystopian prison from anything ever. The cells were barred and the walls were in old stone and mortar. She put on a brave face and tried to continue to call V.I.L.E.'s presumed bluff. Coach Brunt walked in front of her.

"Not bad, Coach. New academy really suits V.I.L.E.'s true pursuits" Carmen said.

"Drop it, Montoya. It was cute at first, now you're just getting on my nerves. Here, let me jog your memory."

"Ooh, this outta be good" Carmen chuckled. "Enlighten me."

"Your name is Felina Montoya. You are serving a life sentence here, at Wolfe Island Penitentiary" Brunt explained.

"Penitentiary? You're the one who should be in prison" Carmen spat. "You and the rest of the faculty—which is exactly what I plan to do after I take you down."

"Okay, Clarence Darrow" Brunt chuckled. "You'll first have to get outta here, pass the bar, oh, and then convince a judge to overturn that pesky murder-one conviction hanging over your pretty little head."

Carmen's eyes lit up. "Murder one? First degree murder? I've never killed anyone!"

"You know, you have a point, runt. I never understood how such a little thing like you could kill anyone. But, different times I suppose."

Before Carmen could rebut, they passed a cell where the occupant eyed the two up. "Well-well-well, look who finally decided to join the rest of us."

Carmen got a good look at the striped-clothed female who was attached to that shrill and sinister voice. "Tigress" Carmen groaned. "They got you in on this cruel charade, too? Funny, I definitely like you behind bars. It's fitting."

"Say that to my face and I'll knock into next week like I did last time!"

"That's enough!" Brunt smacked her nightstick against Tigress's bars. "I'm not in the mood for the catfight, Sheena. I'm a shoelace away from putting the amnesiac here in the hole, you wanna join her?"

Tigress, now very afraid backed away. "No-no, I'll be good."

"Thought so" Brunt then turned her attention back to Carmen. "Move it, Montoya."

They continued along. "You got everyone in on the joke, huh? How much did all this cost V.I.L.E., exactly? Gotta hand it to you, it's ultra-realistic" Carmen smirked, trying to draw out a straight answer from Brunt. "And the acting is pretty good. You're in the wrong business, Coach. You should've tried being a thespian instead of a thief."

That struck a chord. Brunt turned around and Carmen got a good look at the anger and dried up patience in coach Brunt's eyes. She slammed Carmen against the nearest wall. "What. Did. You. Call. Me?"

"A thief!" Carmen reiterated. "You're a thief. No matter how convincing this act is, you are Coach Brunt! You are a faculty member of V.I.L.E. Academy, which tutors young and aspiring thieves to become master criminals. You are an instructor of combat and physical training. Did I miss anything?"

"I wanna smash your head in right now, runt."

"See, that sounds more on brand."

"You don't get it. You called me a thief. Let me learn you a little something. I'm a prison guard, my pappy was a prison guard just like his pappy before him. My family comes from a long line of correctional officers where we keep the peace inside of prisons and keep scum like you behind bars where you belong. I am no thief—and certainly no criminal. And you'd better treat me with the respect I deserve or things are gonna get a lot ugly for you real fast" Brunt hissed.

Carmen got another very painful and up close look at Brunt's eyes. She again seemed genuine. Coach Brunt was a lot of things, but honorable was one of them. She certainly wasn't much of a liar…well, aside from lying to Carmen about her past, that is. But Carmen certainly knew Brunt cared for family and honor. She was becoming increasingly skeptical about her own accusations. Carmen's eyes widened as her restrained hands could do nothing as Brunt pulled out her Glock and put the barrel right to Carmen's temple. The cold polymer and steel muzzle sent shivers to her spine.

"I'm gonna ask you one final time, cause I'm plum outta patience. You ain't goin' to the hole, you're goin' to the morgue if the answer I'm lookin' for ain't satisfactory. Now, what's your name again, princess?"

Now fearing for her life, as she didn't seem to have any gadgets, Player, or her own hands at her disposal, Carmen shed a single tear and looked down, not wanting to look Brunt in the eyes to give her the answer she so desperately craved.

"F-Felina Montoya" she squeaked.

"Atta girl" Brunt smirked. She dropped Carmen to the deck and holstered her weapon. She picked Carmen back up and pushed her along.

Finally, they stopped outside a prison cell, about as drab, drafty, and dank as you're picturing it to be. It was eight by nine, had two single beds chained to the wall with a toilet and sink and not much else. Someone was sacked out on one of the bunks.

"Cell twenty-three, open 'er up!" Brunt called down the hall.

The door swung open and Brunt pushed Carmen inside. "Turn" she ordered as the doors slammed shut behind her. There was an open hole in the bars. Brunt reached her hand in and pulled Carmen to the door by her restraints. Brunt unlocked them, freeing the Latina. Brunt pulled the chains out of the opening. "Wake up, O'Halagan! There's no napping during the day!" Brunt called to the occupant of the other bunk.

"Ugh. Get bent, Brunt!" a tired semi-familiar voice called, getting up.

"Aw, but I brought you're little friend home, for ya. Have fun you two" Brunt started to walk away, but came back briefly. "Wait, I got another one: Louisa Los Angeles" Brunt chuckled then walked away.

Carmen gripped the bars as she watched her former so-called teacher walk down the cell block, cackling away at her apparent attempt at a joke . She then turned as her apparent cellmate had awaken.

"F-Felina? Oh my God, you're okay!"

Carmen then smiled. Her apparent cellmate was none other than Ivy herself. "Ivy!" Carmen ran to give her a hug. "They caught you too, huh?"

"They caught all of us" Ivy shrugged.

Carmen did notice something different about Ivy. Besides wearing the same outfit as she, her voice was very different than usual. Her thick South Boston accent seemed to have been replaced by an equally thick New York accent.

"Your voice" Carmen pointed out. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing worse than you. Hey, don't worry about Sheena, I got a plan cooking for a little revenge. Working all week on it" she explained.

"Don't worry about that, why are you talking that way?" Carmen asked.

"Whatcha mean, Lina? I always talk like this"

"No! You sound like you're from Brooklyn! This has to be fake! M-M-Mind control! That's it. It's gotta be some kind of mind control contraption! This has Dr. Bellum written all over it."

"Mind control shmind control. Come on, Felina, you know me, I'm Bensonhurst born and raised."

"No! You're from South Boston, Massachusetts!"

"Marone! If you weren't my friend I'd make ya eat those words. New England can suck eggs far as I'm concerned" Ivy hissed, laying back down on her bunk. "Especially Massachusetts."

"Wait, that can't be true. You love baked beans and the Red Socks, and clam chowder."

"Only if it's Manhattan, and the Socks are a pack a cheaters! Yankees all the way!"

Carmen was starting to feel like she was in an episode of the Twilight Zone, or Black Mirror for all you young people. "Say chowduh" Carmen demanded in her best Boston accent.

"Chowder."

"No, chowduh."

"That's what I said: chowder. Sheena messed you up but good, didn't she?" Ivy said with some more concern.

"Ivy, something sinister is going on here. What's the last thing you remember, seriously?"

"Uh, I woke up this morning, got breakfast—it was my turn for KP, went back here and took a nap, and here we are."

"What about Zack?"

"Zack? What are you talking about, Felina?"

"Stop!" Carmen cried. "You know my name!"

"Yeah, Felina Montoya."

"No! Carmen Sandiego!"

"Ooh, that does sound cooler."

"You mean wicked. Say it's wicked! Please."

Carmen wasn't one for begging, but there was something about her most trusted confidant not remembering who she is that was making her weak and powerless. As much as Ivy wanted to convey Carmen's pleas she couldn't.

"I've never referred to anything as wicked. And who's this Zack guy? Is he cute?"

"Ew, no! He's your twin brother!"

"Sister, you really need to relax" Ivy said mimicking a deep breath, hoping Carmen would follow suit. "I'm an only child, Lina. I've told you that."

Carmen fell to her knees. "It has to be mind control. This can't be real. Or-or you're under mind control and-and everyone else is just acting. They're doing to me what they did to Gray. Ivy, you're gonna have to listen to me."

"I dunno, you're starting to worry me" she said nervously.

"You are from Boston, you have a twin brother named Zack. You work with me, Carmen Sandiego. We travel the world and steal goods from a criminal organization called VI.L.E. the Villains. International. League. Of Evil. They masquerade as an import/export corporation: Valuable. Imports. Lavish. Exports. In reality they steal valuable items and hock schlocky goods to an unsuspecting public."

"Sounds like you're half-describing Amazon."

"Focus!" Carmen demanded. "My name is Carmen Sandiego! That's the name I gave myself because I don't know my real name because my father was a V.I.L.E. faculty member who was killed by a member of A.C.M.E., a crime-fighting organization dedicated to taking myself and V.I.L.E. down. I was raised on the Isle of V.I.L.E. by the faculty—Brunt being one of them, until when I was older and denied graduation from the academy, where they actually train young criminals to become master thieves and super villains. I escaped and vowed to stop them at all costs, giving back their stolen goods to their rightful owners and sending their money to the less fortunate. I met you and your twin brother, Zack, after we were stealing from the same V.I.L.E. front albeit for different reasons. We helped each other out and you guys joined my cause. We've been traveling the world and besting V.I.L.E. and A.C.M.E. ever since" Carmen finished.

Ivy sat their staring blankly at Carmen's lengthy information dump. She even left out the more gory details out of courtesy…and because that's a lot of words to type. Carmen was looking increasingly nervous and fidgety, definitely not her usual. Ivy took another deep breath.

"Felina—"

"Carmen! My name is Carmen."

"…"Carmen", you really got knocked out. You were in a coma for over a week. Look, when I'm not making shivs and plotting escapes, I've been in the library reading on psychology, it's been the only thing keeping me sane, here; but look" Ivy continued. "Sometimes, when people are in a coma they can have vivid dreams, dreams that might go on for years and years in their heads."

"But for my entire life, Ivy?" Carmen snapped. "You mean to tell me I just woke up in this so-called prison where I remember nothing about getting there or my life before it and know everyone here by a marginally different personality?"

"It's possible" Ivy calmly continued. "Look, you're a stone-cold gangster. Like Lucky Luciano and Vito Genovese. Why do you think Sheena wanted to fight you? You pose a threat. You have more street cred. You're a cold-blooded killer."

"I'm not!" Carmen boomed. "I'm…I-I'm a…" Carmen paused.

Carmen almost passed out again. Forget the story Ivy was trying to explain to her, which was becoming increasingly realistic, but Carmen instantly felt an identity crisis coming. What was she? She wasn't exactly a thief, right? I mean, she steals, but gives it back to its owners or the less fortunate…so, sort of in the Robin Hood mold, in a sense. But what kind of life was that? Her only goals in life trying to take down the crooks who raised her, robbing her of a childhood she might have had, which is leading to her new quest to find her mother, but also to travel the world. That was it, period, stop. It definitely started to sound more far-fetched the more Carmen thought about it.

"Come on. You've had a rough life as it is, Lina. Maybe in your coma your brain dreamed up this fantasy where you were this kick-butt anti-hero to soothe your psyche. Murder one is definitely an eye opener" Ivy calmly continued, putting her arm around Carmen's shoulder.

"I mean…no, it can't be real. I-I-It felt like twenty years went by. And I remember nothing from my so-called past…right?"

"I read that, too. Maybe your brain repressed all your real-life exploits. You're gonna have to remember them if you ever want closure. Seriously though, think about it; does any of that story you just told me even sound remotely real, much less possible?"

"Yes! I mean…I-guess."

"I wish there was a way to prove it to you" Ivy sighed, falling back on her bunk.

Carmen put her fists up to her chin, seemingly in confused defeat. But then, it dawned on her. "Wait a minute. There is a way!"

"Ooh, I smell a plan" Ivy perked up.

"A place like this definitely has a system we're all supposedly in. Like, information about our criminal history, trial notes, and the like."

"Perfect! I know it'll hurt, Lina, but it'll help you find closure."

"Forget that. I'm betting one doesn't exist. Or I'm not in it, because this isn't a real prison. V.I.L.E. is pretty slick and love attention to detail. But I doubt even they could think of this" Carmen mused. "You in, Ivy? Unless you're not into thievery like the Ivy I know, is."

"How dare you. I got forty years for armed robbery. And that place would definitely be the admin center. There's gotta be a master computer with all our info."

"Now, we have to find a way to get there…"

"Ha, oh Lina do I have a surprise for you" Ivy said, getting off her bunk. She crawled towards the back wall of the cell. Carmen smiled as she watched Ivy remove brick by brick until she saw a crude tunnel entrance. "Been working on this for a while, but I finally got the entrance finished while you were laid up."

"Not bad, Ivy."

"Just call me Colonel Hogan. Come on. We'll have at least an hour before the next bed check. And, if and when we make it to admin, it'll be a piece of cake to escape." Ivy explained.

"Glad to see you're still quick on your feet, Ives."

Ivy led Carmen into the tunnel, and the two piled the bricks from the inside to make it look like the cell was put together, and continued into the dark tunnels of the prison.


	2. The Carmen Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmen finds closure though not what she expected. Zack and Shadowsan are forced to retreat to an unlikely location after being discovered by a strangely persistent A.C.M.E., and the Jason Bourne references continue.

Zack and Shadowsan dried off inside this slick new chopper fresh off the Haliburton assembly line and paid for by V.I.L.E.'s seemingly never ending supply of cash. It was something out of a video game, a sleek Blackhawk helicopter with bladed edges to make it more aerodynamic and faster, certainly easy to allude pursuers, especially in the stormy night. 

The two unlikely heroes entered the cockpit to see nobody flying, and Player on a screen on the center console controlling the joystick. "Hey Player, how good are you at flying something like this?" Zack asked.

"Relax guys, I've played enough Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto to know I'm pretty good at piloting."

"With all due respect Player, pretty good is not good enough" Shadowsan boomed.

"Oh, sorry. Would you like to take over?" Shadow-san and Zack nonchalantly looked away while Zack innocently whistled. "Thought so. Okay, so you were supposed to be in St. Nazaire trying to stop V.I.L.E. from stealing—"

"A priceless Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre" Shadowsan reiterated on their recent failed mission.

"Except it was a sting orchestrated by A.C.M.E." Zack added. "Hey, how were they able to find us, anyway?"

"You don't think A.C.M.E. has any hackers of their own? Besides, I doubt it was them who made off with Carmen and Ivy" Player explained. "We know A.C.M.E.'s game plan and their only objective is capturing Red, it seems like they're taking an awful lot of effort to get all of us."

"V.I.L.E. must have sent in stealth operatives" Shadowsan mused. "That's the only explanation, the rest of us are mere collateral damage."

"I dunno, it kinda looked like those were real bullets flying past my head earlier. And that explosion blew me right into the ocean…I think" Zack pondered.

"If V.I.L.E. did have any operatives, wouldn't Shadowsan know their MO? He probably trained them?" Player asked.

"Which is why they would know what to do" Shadowsan explained. "We have to at least search. Regardless of their stealth, A.C.M.E.'s intense presence would be too much for them to get far."

"Then we shall return to the scene of the crime!" Zack insisted.

"Heading there now!" Player directed the chopper over the city, landing toward the local art museum, swarming with A.C.M.E. operatives.

From one situation we transition to another. Carmen and Ivy were crawling through the crude escape tunnels Ivy painstakingly forged. For her part, Carmen's head was hurting, not so much from the alleged bruises, but more-so from the apparent identity crisis creating a whirlwind inside her brain.

"What else can you remember?" Ivy asked.

"I-I'm trying" Carmen racked her brain. "It's getting fuzzier. I still remember…I remember my name. And I wore a red duster and a fedora. It was made by a company based in San Diego, California."

"Seriously Felina, you have to ask yourself: orphaned and raised on an island training criminals only to travel the world to try and reclaim the stolen things they previously stole? It's nuts."

"So what? A cold-blooded murderer is less nuts? I don't remember that, either."

"I heard about ya. Not gonna lie I was gitty when I learned we were gonna be cellie's. You're a real-life Tony Soprano, you know, but skinnier and helpful."

"Helpful how?" Carmen asked.

"It kind of fits with your persona. You would steal from gangsters and give back to your own community" Ivy explained.

"Which is?"

"Chicago."

"Illinois? I'm an American?" Carmen pondered. "N-No, I'm…I'm Argentinian…right? Grr! Stop confusing me, Ivy! This has to work. I'll jog my memory when we discover I'm not even in their "database". Either way, at least we can escape."

"Bingo."

After a few more crawls up, down, and sometimes sideways, Ivy led them into a ventilation duct she tore into with her tunnels which gave the two an easier trip to crawl through. Eventually they came to a duct above a room.

"Okay, this is it" Ivy assured her.

"Good, let's do what we do best."

The two broke through and landed on the floor, their prison uniforms covered in dirt from the journey. They looked about the sterile offices of the administration center. Unlike the prison which looked like it hadn't been updated since Eisenhower, the admin center was about as modern as it could get, with glass walled offices and sleek monitors on the desks. They managed to come to a computer which seemed open, and strangely not password protected. "Ms. Cleo's computer, the quartermaster—er, mistress" Ivy explained.

"Countess Cleo" Carmen corrected.

She looked at a pair of double doors at the end of the long room. A plaque on the wall next to the door read: WARDEN. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize who's office that belonged to.

"That the warden?" she asked.

"Yeah. He's a real stickler apparently, no one's ever seen him. We don't even know his name. He only deals through Cleo, Brunt, and sometimes Dr. Maelstrom. Rumor has it, if you go into his office, you never make it out alive" Ivy ominously explained.

"Hmm" Carmen mused, her brain going to work. But, foreshadowing wasn't on the top of her list right then. They got to work.

"Alright, accessing database…" Ivy typed away, channeling her inner Player.

"Type Carmen Sandiego, see what comes up" Carmen insisted.

"Okay" Ivy typed it in. No results. "Nothing."

"What? Did you spell it right? Try to put Sandiego as two words."

"Okay" Ivy sighed, figuring the search was fruitless, and as you would expect—"A crazy handful of nothing."

Carmen gasped as she looked at the blank search results page in front of her. "Um—try the Internet!" Carmen said desperately. "Carmen Sandiego."

Ivy made her Google search. "Um, all that comes up is this clothing outfitter—"

"Carmen Brand Outerwear! But it—it was out of business. It's our HQ! I never even wanted it!"

"Says here they just went public, opened four more branches along the West Coast" Ivy explained.

"That-that's not possible."

"Felina" Ivy said, turning around in the swivel chair. "I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but—"

"No! I-we can't give up, Ivy! This has to be a trick of some sort! Search for V.I.L.E. Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports."

"Okay…just a bunch of high end jewelry and cars from random websites."

Carmen started to sweat. She racked her brain further and further. How could this be? How elaborate could this V.I.L.E. trick be that they have literally erased Carmen seemingly from existence? Carmen's brain grew fuzzier and fuzzier as she tried to remember anything from her past but she was now drawing blanks.

All she wanted was a normal life after stopping V.I.L.E., and for her troubles it was all turning into some kind of fantasy dreamed up from some sort of coma. Carmen leaned on the desk wanting to throw up. The knots in her stomach were getting to be too much. With Ivy's help she got to her feet.

"Okay…type Felina Montoya. But on the Internet. I don't trust the databases here."

"Sure, you got it" Ivy went to work, and to Carmen's horror, a lot of articles came up, many incriminating and all featured one common denominator in the file photos…

There were pictures of her.

"New York Times: Alleged Chicago crime boss does life in prison for murder" Ivy read.

"Washington Post: Felina Montoya outed as young head of organized crime syndicate in Northern Illinois."

"Wall Street Journal: Chicago at ease after Murder One conviction for crime boss Felina Montoya." They continued to read, until a local news outlet gave them a video titled: Graphic footage of gangland murder. A nameless news anchor appeared on the screen.

"Good evening and welcome to Chicago Six news! . La Cosa Nostra, Latin meaning "This Thing of Ours", a time honored code name given to usually Italian-based organized crime which most of us refer to as "The Mafia". Over time these families have grown from disenfranchised immigrants many of whom were refused jobs and housing, to cold-hearted thieves and murderers giving rise the infamous gangster genre in our Elitist cinema culture. Many names spring up from this history of crime: Alphonse Capone, Charles Luciano, Joe Colombo, and John Gotti. Up until recently these shadowy crime families have been led exclusively by men of full Italian lineage, but for the first time America has finally been inundated with its first known female crime boss or at least a high profile one who happens to also be a young woman of color. Her name is Felina Montoya. Daughter of Chicago councilmember Diego Montoya and environmental activist Carmen Montoya" Carmen's eyes lit up as she saw her mugshot in the upper third of the screen. It was most certainly her. "While Felina has been a well-known young philanthropist—as one of elite stock often becomes, she was also highly respected here in Western Chicago where she ran various charities most likely at the expense of her high profile parents. But underneath the glitz and smiles lay a vicious crime lord, enough to make Vito Corleone jealous. Felina had been syphoning from her own charities to give directly to struggling families in her community—now while that sounds relatively harmless there is of course a more sinister mind at work here. Felina had turned many youths in her community into a crime family and after the good deeds turned to racketeering and money laundering, her luck was running out as the more infamous Chicago Outfit once run by the aforementioned Capone sought a war with the "Montoya Family" after a dispute over a rigged construction contract turned violent. That violence culminated in the gangland assassination of alleged Chicago Outfit Boss Salvatore Russano, now while many of us will not mourn his death, we are still left with yet another victim of shameless violence in our urban streets. We were able to uncover a security camera who caught the violent scene of Russan's demise in a small diner in the Chicago Loop which we will play for you now. I must warn you the footage is quite shocking and viewer discretion is advised."

Carmen watched the grainy security footage in horror as the aging crime sat in a restaurant booth. Carmen (or at least an extremely convincing facsimile of Carmen) was sitting on a stool at the nearby bar. She gets up and walks towards the bathroom which is perpendicular to Russano. She then exits holding akimbo Colt 1911's, gunning the man down. She dropped both guns before making a hasty exit.

Carmen almost threw up in the nearby trash can. Which she would have if her veins weren't so filled with the IV drip. Ivy watched the footage over and over again. "Man, I can watch this all day. Sooooo gangster!"

"I don't believe it. I-I killed a man. But that can't be me-i-it can't!" Carmen cried.

"Felina—"

"It was all a dream! You were right. That coma was me repressing this memory. I get it now. I'm a murderer."

"And so was Sal Russano! You think he was an angel? Heck no! He has like a dozen unsolved murders where he's the suspect or at least the person of interest. And never mind the land grabbing and the thievery for him and his crew! You want "vile", he's the vile one, not you. You did Chi-town a favor by taking him out of commish."

An unhinged Carmen grabbed Ivy by the collar. "I'm no killer!"

Ivy looked blankly and wide-eyed at Carmen. This was perhaps the lowest point in Carmen's very young and extremely extraordinary life. She seemed a shell of her former self, reduced to a sobbing mess, finally completing her "identity crisis". Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't even convince herself that the footage was fake anymore. This was all-too-real. Her brain dreamed up Carmen Sandiego to protect her from the burden of being an anti-hero crime boss turned killer. And now she was paying the ultimate price. She hung her head as her tears puddled on the carpet below.

"I…I didn't—me-mean to" Carmen blurted, feeling dizzy. The nausea had turned into a splitting migraine. Carmen felt the room spinning. Maybe it was from all the information and life altering events circulating all at once. Maybe it was all the physical activity coupled with her obvious concussion and brain trauma. But one thing was for sure, Carmen was breaking down. She lost her grip on Ivy's shirt and collapsed on the floor, knocked out.

Ivy quickly dropped to her knees and tried in vain to wake up her unhinged cellmate. "Felina? Lina wake up. Come on Lina! It's okay! It's okay, this is good, now you can heal. Wake up!" Ivy tried shaking Carmen to no avail.

But just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse, they got worse. Th doors to the admin center flew open and a voice shouted: "What's going on in here!?"

"Aw crud!" Ivy bellowed.

Out of one frying pan and into another. Player flew the chopper through central St. Nazaire flying low through the coastal French town. Time for some education! Zack stood at the edge of the side door of the helicopter.

"I feel like we're on a real raid" Zack mused.

"You're not far off, Zack. St. Nazaire was actually part of a famous raid by the Royal Navy and British Commandos in World War II" Player began.

"No fooling?"

"Yeah. On March 28, 1942, a few hundred naval and marine personnel stormed the German occupied docks in the HMS Campbeltown, among a few other ships. The objective was to render the Normandie Dry Dock inoperable so the Kriegsmarine were unable to repair ships and U-Boats for close enough to the Atlantic Ocean for the war effort. Despite the loss of life and over two-hundred prisoners of war taken, the operation was a complete success and paved the way for future and more successful raids, such as the Normandy Invasion just over two years later which facilitated a faster end to an otherwise long war." Player explained.

"Wicked! I hope we don't add to that POW list" Zack gulped.

"We won't, unless you decide to screw this up…again" Shadowsan groaned.

"I'm not seeing many heat signatures within the museum itself that I can't already identify as A.C.M.E." Player continued. Zack and Shadowsan looked at the computer monitor where player had a 3D diagram of the museum they were previously trying to hit. "There's a small window here on the second floor, but you're gonna have to jump into it, it's the only place where no one can currently suspect you entering."

"Jump how?" Zack asked.

"The right way" Shadowsan dryly explained.

Player maneuvered the chopper parallel with the open window of the museum, about three stories above the ground. Shadowsan got a running start and immediately dove into the window. A slack-jawed Zack was having second thoughts, one of a few rational decisions he's had his entire life.

"No way! Uh-uh! Nuts to that! There's no way I'm—whoaaaaa!"

During Zack's rant Player tore the bandage off by tilting the chopper downward leaving the open side door still open and Zack now falling towards it. He rolled and got on the edge, making a jump for the window, grabbing onto the ledge. Shadowsan pulled him inside.

The inside just happened to be a men's room. The two had little time for jokes, pleasantries, and "ow-everything-hurts" because they heard footsteps outside coming closer and closer.

"Somebody's coming! Hide!" Shadowsan shoved Zack into a stall and closed the door. Zack got in the fetal position sitting on the toilet, but locked the door behind him and hoped for the best. Player had already moved the chopper away from sight of the window. Moments later the door flew open and a familiar French accent was obnoxiously taking credit for the current operation while talking on the phone. Zack looked through the crack in the door, it was everyone's favorite arrogant and incompetent former Interpol agent Chase Devineaux who should really have a running gun battle with Jacques Clouseau as to which French law-enforcement agent sucks worse at their job…huh, I wonder if Clouseau was an inspiration for Chase? Anyway, Chase was popping mints and talking to presumably the Chief on his phone, remember, he was reinstated to A.C.M.E…for the life of me I don't know why. "Yes Chief, everything is going perfectly" Zack could see Chase looking at himself in the mirror, now wearing a perfectly tailored A.C.M.E. suit and Ray Ban-esque sunglasses despite the fact that it's eleven o'clock at night and pouring rain outside. "No, we did not come across La Femme Rouge, but we are searching through the sewers…hey, if they can work for Jean Valjean and the Ninja Turtles, they can work for Carmen Sandiego…Oui, she was spotted leaving with the stupid idiot from Bean-town."

Zack's Boston pride was boiling over with rage at the sight of Chase saying the one thing that gets him going. He stood in the stall and was about to huff. "Nev—"

"Shh!"

But before he could, he as interrupted by a perfect shh partially muffled by a clap of thunder. Zack looked up at the ceiling and saw Shadowsan doing some ninja move where he was matted to the ceiling on his back but able to look down. He was right above Zack, straddling the ceiling between the stall he was in and a row of urinals. Chase decided to do some business and walked to the urinal right next to Zack.

"No-no, the other stupid idiot from Bean-town…oui, the girl. And no sign of the shadow-y, ninja either. I was told there was an explosion and two persons of interest had escaped the beach but we are furiously searching, that I promise you" Chase then zipped up and went to wash his hands…but instead, merely looked at himself in the mirror, gross. "Oui, I understand my orders" Shadow-san looked skeptically as from his perch he watched Chase pull out what looked like a pistol from a holster inside his jacket. He pulled the slide back all cool-like before placing it back in its holster. Chase then left. Zack kicked the stall door open.

"Never call Boston: Bean-town!"

Shadowsan then let go and then gravity decided to exist again and he landed on top of Zack, knocking the raging redhead to the bathroom floor. "Portland is called Stump-town, you do not hear them complaining" he moaned, helping Zack off the questionably clean floor.

Zack and Shadowsan sneaked through the museum floors, dodging flashlight shining ACME agents. They had head-seats so they could speak to Player directly. "I saw Devineaux had a firearm."

"Really? I thought A.C.M.E. was stun only?" Zack pondered.

"It would explain nearly getting killed on the beach. They must be getting desperate" Shadowsan mused.

Eventually they made it to the exhibit with the painting, which was still in its place. "The Night Watch" Player explained. "Painted by Rembrandt in 1642. Zack, use your phone to scan it."

"Copy that" Zack held up his special phone of Player's design. The genius hacker made a quick scan. "It's the real McCoy, alright."

"But how? Our intel said V.I.L.E. was going to steal this particular piece. Countess Cleo loves her Rembrandt's" Shadowsan mused. "Something doesn't seem right."

"That's because it was a trap!" The two looked behind them and saw a shadowy figure approach them with some kind of weapon drawn. "Hands up! Both of you!" A lightning flash illuminated from the window gave them a brief glimpse of the individual. It was Carmen's favorite A.C.M.E. go-between, Julia Argent. However, she seemed less mousy this go around, and far more sure of herself. Shadowsan was uneasy, Zack on the other hand breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew, it's only you, Jules. Hey it's us, your friends? Zack and—this is Shadowsan, have you been formally introduced yet?"

"Silence!" Julia blurted, getting closer.

"Zack, I don't think—"

"No-no, it's all good, Jules is a friend."

"I'm no friend to criminal scum like you."

"Wow, A.C.M.E.'s worked wonders for you Jules, you actually sound scary."

"You should be afraid!" Julia came into the light, revealing a more serious scowl than her usual innocent face, but instead of the poorly-designed A.C.M.E. stun guns, Julia was pointing a fully functional John Wick looking Walther P99 at the two of them. Zack was starting to see that she wasn't joking. "That's more like it. Now, I only have one set of handcuffs, so you'll have to cuff yourselves to one another. Or else" She tossed a set of handcuffs at their feet.

"Jules. C'mon, you know us" Zack pleaded. "We're your pals. Look, we're trying to find Carmen—"

"Who isn't trying to find that thief! La Femme Rouge. She should be behind bars where she belongs!" If only you knew, Julia.

"What's gotten into—"

"Are you two going to keep talking? Cause the more talking I hear the more my finger has tendency to slip" Julia warned them.

Shadowsan clearly realized Julia was being uncharacteristically antagonistic towards them and Zack's cries for friendship were clearly falling on deaf ears. He grabbed a smoke-pellet from his pocket and threw it to the ground. A moment later, the smoke cleared and Julia groaned as the two had vanished.

Smash-cut to the roof of the museum. Zack and Shadow-san sprinted from a roof-access door back out in the pouring rain. "Player! Extraction!" Shadowsan called.

"One sec!"

An A.C.M.E. chopper shined its spotlight down on the two just as Player's chopper rose from the side of the building. Another roof access door opened, revealing an armed Chase, Julia, and a few A.C.M.E. agents nearby.

"There they are!" Julia yelled.

"Don't just stand there like Americans! Waste them!" Chase ordered.

Gunfire erupted as Zack and Shadowsan sprinted to the edge of the roof and jumped into the side of the chopper which at it's faster speeds quickly flew away, able to avoid any pursuits. Zack fell on the deck, feeling betrayed.

"That can't be Jules, it can't!"

"Well then who was it? A robot?" Shadowsan posited, he would regret that.

"That's it! It's a realistic Julia Argent robot!"

Shadowsan made a facepalm. "Player, we were forced to retreat. No sign of Carmen or Ivy."

"They're still not showing up on my scans either. But hey, if I know Red, they probably lammed it and went dark. There's way too many A.C.M.E. agents to make a clean getaway as you both are probably aware." Player explained.

"Very much so." Shadowsan nodded

"Everything still hurts!" Zack cried

"Just take us back home" Shadowsan ordered.

"Yeeeeeah, about that…"

"More bad news?"

"Bad to worse. Either I'm slipping or A.C.M.E. beefed up their game. A silent alarm was tripped at HQ. I got the security feed, it's being raided by the San Diego Police Department, and the FBI!"

"What!?" they both shouted.

"Oh no! This is bad!"

"What now?" Zack asked.

"See for yourself." Player uploaded four pictures to the monitor. It was All Points Bulletin Wanted Posters with Zack, Shadowsan, Carman, and Ivy on them. "They're being uploaded to every criminal database the world over! There's no way I could even get you to a hotel! Everyone will know who you are!"

"Aw man, that is not a flattering picture of me" Zack complained, staring at his wanted poster.

"That's what you took away from all that?" Shadowsan asked rhetorically.

"So, we're on our own?" Zack asked nervously.

"Noooooot necessarily. See, they don't know who I am…" Player sighed.

"Sooooooo?" Zack asked.

"So…I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I guess we have literally no choice unless you both wanna be homeless…you're gonna have to lay low at my house" Player suggested, an opportunity Zack jumped at.

"Really?" Shadowsan asked. "What about your parents? I seem to recall that was an obstacle the last time."

"I'll do some fancy footwork. Here's my address" Player uploaded a Google Earth image with a pin of his house in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

"Party at Player's house!" Zack chirped, earning him a slap to the back of the head from Shadowsan.

"This isn't funny, prankster!"

"Yeah, cause we're gonna work overtime to find where in the world are Ivy and Carmen Sandiego" Player added.

"Yeah but…will there be BBQ potato chips?" Zack asked.

"I…can arrange that."

"Then party at Player's house!" Zack chirped again, getting another slap.

The helicopter flew away from St. Nazaire, and to a nearby airstrip to take the two to their next destination: Player's house!

Okay, now that we've established that there's something rotten in Zack and Shadowsan's world, let us resume to Carmen's. She had passed out from all the revelations hitting her all at once, confirming her suspicions that she wasn't in some sort of dream, that this was her reality and that Carmen Sandiego was merely a coma dream designed to help repress her terrible crimes.

It was all so fitting…almost too good. Everyone from the prison seemingly had a role to play in Carmen's dream except with minor alterations to their personas. But it all had to be a dream, right? The news would never lie to us…. -_-

Her memories of traveling the world and being raised on the Isle of Vile were vanishing and being replaced with a relatively stable nuclear family in the Chicago area. A life that was unfortunately dashed when Carmen, an apparent crime boss took it upon herself to take a hit out on a rival boss…I guess she never saw any gangster movie ever, because that rarely works. Now she had to pay the ultimate price, but did she have to go quietly?

Carmen was slowly waking up. She could hear a voice telling her to do so. Carmen's eyes once again adjusted themselves to light. She found herself in a dank concrete room. Someone was towering over her. It was none of other than coach—excuse me, guard Brunt.

"Wake up little lamb" she said in an eerily sing-song voice.

Carmen rose up. She was in a bed, even less comfortable than the one in her cell. The room was windowless and made of solid concrete, it had one bed and an even dankier toilet/sink contraption. There was a solid metal door with a sliding peep-hole and a hole at the bottom of the door. Carmen saw her forehead was bandaged, and her wrists were now cuffed together.

"You had another lil' slip n' fall" Brunt chuckled. "We caught you and O'Halagan sneaking peeks at the administration computers. That's naughty."

"I had to know the truth" Carmen insisted.

"Well then, what exactly did you learn, Matilda San Mateo? What truth was that?"

Carmen hung her head in shame. "That…That I'm a mur—m-mur—"

"That's it, I wanna hear you say it, Montoya" Brunt demanded.

"Mu-mu-m-m-murderer."

"Good. And how do you feel?" Brunt asked.

"How do you think I feel?"

"Now I know you didn't just answer my question with another question" Brunt ominously spouted, hand going for her nightstick.

Carmen sighed. She got up and sat on the side of the bed, hanging her head in shame. "I feel like I robbed someone of their life. That's the ultimate theft. That's why I think I dreamed up Carmen Sandiego in my head, so I could forget. I guess Ivy was right."

"Oh please. Look Montoya, I get your brain is all frazzled and whatnot, but hey, if I were the judge I'd let you go. You think you robbed the world a chance to see Salvatore Russano breathing? That fat dink gave the world nothing but extortion, murder, and whatever other RICO predicates they could find. But unfortunately, murder is murder, and that's why you're here" Brunt explained.

Carmen put her cuffed hands to her chin. Brunt was right. She desperately didn't want her to be right, but she was. This was her life now. She was merely a number in this place with seemingly nowhere to go. Carmen rubbed her bandaged head, and felt a slight white light overtake her as she did. Brunt stopped her.

"Who-whoa-whoa, easy pumpkin. You've had enough concussions for one lifetime. I wouldn't make anything worse" Brunt advised.

Carmen nodded. "Maybe I can make myself forget everything, then."

"Well unfortunately, you're gonna have a few days to figure all that out. Not sure how familiar you are with the hole, but here it is. I'd give you the grand tour, but, this is basically it."

Carmen looked around, getting a good firsthand look at her new surroundings. "Solitary confinement?"

"Yeah that's the technical name. But the hole sounds more ominous and fearful, wouldn't you say?" Brunt asked rhetorically.

"Brunt, you-you can't leave me here" Carmen begged.

"Pray tell why?"

"Because I am in no condition to be left alone right now."

"Exactly. Warden wanted you and O'Halagan to spend a month in here for your escape attempt—and don't go and tell me after your little field trip that you two were just gonna mosey on back to your cell, were you?"

Carmen wanted to lie, but she couldn't. "No."

"I thought so. But, I was in a good mood. I ordered a book of California cities so we can continue this little back-and-forth. Ha-ha-ha, Carmen Sandiego. What a bunch of hooey. Anyway, I talked him down from a month for three days. But so help me, if I hear one complaint from any of the guards, you'll be here indefinitely, you hear me?" Brunt warned her.

"Yes-yes! I'll be good, I promise" Carmen assured her, being as scared as Tigress was earlier.

"That's what I thought" Brunt took out the handcuff keys and unlocked Carmen's cuffs, taking them with her.

"Three days?" Carmen asked

"Three days" Brunt promised her.

"Okay" Carmen nodded.

"Get some real sleep, runt. You're gonna need it. I hope when I return you don't have any cabin fever."

"I never want to sleep again" Carmen sighed.

"Tough. Cause it's gonna get real dark in here. Good luck, Anna Oakland" Brunt chuckled before walking out and shutting the door behind her. She closed the peep holes from the outside, leaving Carmen in darkness, and more worrisome, alone with her thoughts, which were anything but hopeful at the moment.


	3. Three Days Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmen mulls over her identity crisis as she hallucinates from the horrors of being in thrice days of isolation but are these hallucinations, or a cry for help? Meanwhile, we finally get a glimpse of where Player lives as he and Shadowsan plot their next move to find Carmen and Ivy, while Zack breaks a little bad. Leave a comment if you so choose and enjoy!

We'll start with Zack and Shadowsan. The two were in very poor disguises, but to their defense, not a lot of suspicious Canadians to be had. They got out of their Uber (not sure if Uber is in Canada so let's just pretend it is) out in front of the world's most adorable house fit for an old lady.

It was a split level, with triangle roofing and a few gables, certainly done in the central European tradition. It was not the house Zack and Shadowsan were expecting as they stood in front of it. The very unsuspicious driver just went away. Zack was dressed like he was a stunt double for Michael J. Fox. He wore w white T-shirt under a multi-colored vest with jeans. Shadowsan wore slacks with one of those Assassin's Creed hoodies you find on those sketchy websites that's never the right size when it gets to you.

"This is it?" Shadowsan asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, this is the address he gave us" Zack said, reading it on his phone. "This house is…it's adorable" the two approached the front porch.

"Did you not expect Player's house to be more…modern looking?" Shadowsan asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking more Parasite and less Hansel and Gretel."

"For once, we agree."

The two got to the front door and stopped short of knocking. "Should we…should we knock?" Zack asked.

"No, I figured we'd stand out here until he answers the door" Shadowsan complained. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I mean, what if it's booby trapped?" Zack asked. "Player probably has a crackuh-jack security system."

"Fine then, Joe Pesci. I'll knock" Shadowsan groused and gave a commanding knock on the oak door. There was a tasteful sign on it reading: WHEN YOU'RE HERE, YOU'RE HOME.

A few moments later and the door opened. It was Player. "Guys, you made it."

"Playuh!" Zack gave him a high five. "You're about as short as I thought you'd be."

"He's a child, you dimwit" Shadowsan complained.

"So, you guys gonna come in?" Player asked.

The two entered the abode and Shadowsan closed the door behind them. It was about as adorable as the outside. They were in the living room where an older woman was sitting at the couch. She was clearly Player's Grandma, knitting needles and half a sweater on her lap as she drooled and snored through reruns of Murder She Wrote, the quint-essential elderly viewing show besides Dateline, Matlock, and Judge Judy.

"This your mom?" Zack asked Player with a whisper trying not to wake the woman.

"No. It's my Grandma. I told you I took care of my folks. I was able to hack into a spa getaway in The Hamptons, all expenses paid. It buys us a week plus about eight to ten hours the day of for them to get back to Niagara from Long Island" Player explained.

"One week. Let's get to work" Shadowsan nodded. "Will your Grandmother be alright?"

"Oh yeah, let's face it, I'm the one taking care of her" Player explained, getting out a rag to sop up her drool. "She's only here cause it's literally a crime to leave a pre-teen home for more than a few hours" he discarded the rag off to the side.

"Alright! Show us where the magic happens, Player!" Zack rubbed his hands together.

"Step into my office, fellas" Player said leading them down a hall to his room.

Now over to Carmen in her very precarious predicament. She was sitting on the foot of her bed in her eerily quiet cell in solitary confinement. She had a lot to think about in the three days she would spend there. There was her history, her name, her very existence; all this seemed to have the trappings of a philosophy major's term paper, because every philosophy major focuses on existentialism.

She had once thought she had spent her whole life being raised by criminals only to realize what their true intentions were and then dedicated her life to stopping said criminals by stealing the stolen things they previously stole and donating the proceeds to charity.

But now all that seemed like it was a coma dream. (And only I know the truth) She was a budding mob boss in Chicago's West side with her dreams dashed only after personally taking a hit out on a rival mob boss who was essentially the second coming of Tony Soprano. And now she had her entire life behind bars to mull it all over.

"Felina Montoya" she said. "Felina…Montoya. I am a convict…a murderer, not a thief who steals from thieves…Not an orphan…I have a family, right?" she asked herself. "A mom and a dad…who are probably very…very disappointed in me" she sighed.

Carmen's identity crisis seemed finally complete. She was Felina Montoya. Organized Crime boss, philanthropist, daughter, murderer. No wonder she had a whole different life dreamed up in her head. She sat against the foot of the bed and tilted her head down.

"I'm sorry Salvatore" she muttered. "You clearly weren't a good person, but even you didn't deserve to die."

After a few more moments of unkempt and eerie silence, Carmen then heard a voice that was strangely familiar. "You are pathetic, La Femme Rouge!"

Carmen's head darted up. "Who said that!?"

There was more uncomfortably silence but then, something absurd happened. Carmen saw a white light on the other side of her cramped cell. The light turned into the shape of a man. Carmen rubbed her eyes when she saw him. He was as bright as a ghost and had to have been a hallucination. It was our dear friend: Chase Devineaux.

"You. Devineaux, right?"

"Oui. And you are a sight for the sore eyes" he exclaimed.

"You're not even real! You were in my head!"

"I am as real as a crepe suzette!" Chase boomed. "And you need to snap out of it, if you ever wish to get out of here."

"No! I belong here. I'm not Carmen Sandiego. I'm just some psycho killer" Carmen spat.

"You do belong behind bars, Crimson Phantom, but at the hands of I, A.C.M.E. Agent Chase Devineaux. It is not sporting to watch you rot in a jail cell I did not put you in."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you can't put into prison who's already there. Besides; and I cannot stress this enough; you are a hallucination!. And by the way, I'm glad my mind dreamed you up. It was really fun to watch you knock yourself out and fall on the hood of your car…repeatedly."

"So there is no getting through to you, is there?" Chase asked.

Carmen flopped on her cot, looking away from the Chase hallucination. "Nope. I will not be taken over by these lies again."

"Fine. You leave me no choice, Carmen Sandiego. I must bring out the big guns" Chase then vanished.

"Big guns. Ha" Carmen chuckled, arms crossed. "Who could he possibly be—"

"Black Sheep!"

Carmen tilted her head, and saw a vision of Shadowsan, sporting his old ninja garb and not his chic and stylish everyman look. "Oh, the very man who made me the hero I was in my dream" Carmen sat up in her bed. "Who were you to me in real life? All these hallucinations had to have come from somewhere."

"You have to snap out of this, Carmen!" Shadowsan warned. "Or you will be stuck in this world forever!"

"I am stuck in this world! It's the real world, and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life to pay for my crimes" Carmen insisted.

"you have committed no crimes, Carmen."

"Yes I have! I'm a murderer! I saw the footage with my own eyes! I can't repress this any longer so it can fester into this crazy alternate personality so I can feel better about what I've done!" Carmen screamed, near to tears. "You can't tell I'm a liar!"

"You are not lying, but you are—"

"I'm what? And stop calling me Carmen! I am Felina Montoya! I don't want to remember my hallucinations any longer. So go vanish already." She demanded.

"But—"

"Go!" Carmen ordered.

Shadowsan sighed and then vanished. But Carmen could feel the presence of yet another hallucination approaching. As the figure formed she turned her head wanting it to simply vanish.

"Listen, I know this is all in my head! I do not believe—"

"You don't believe I'm real, love?"

Carmen stopped dead in her tracks.

Back to Canada, eh. (I'm sorry) Player was showing Zack and Shadowsan his room, which aside from the nerd-lair that was Player's monitor and hard drive desk was mostly a normal room for a twelve year old boy. He had a book shelf with mostly comics, video games, and some encyclopedias that were seldomly opened as Player has the Internet and nobody under the age of sixty uses an encyclopedia anymore but it did give his room more of a scholarly look. He also had some discarded sporting equipment, a few tiny dinosaur models, posters from every cool action movie, a skateboard, bed, flat screen television with a futon facing it; you know, typical stuff.

"It is exactly how I imagined it" Shadowsan said, admiring the room.

"So, what's our first plan of attack?" Zack asked, flopping on Player's bed.

"Well, that's kind of the thing" Player shrugged, sitting at his desk chair. "If V.I.L.E. did capture Red and Ivy it's a sure thing they're probably in a location unfamiliar to use because we happen to have someone who would know all the V.I.L.E. bases" he explained, pointing to Shadowsan.

"This is true. They know I could very easily give up any location they have" Shadowsan admitted.

"Which means I have to just start hacking into CCTV cameras and hope for the best to find any leads. Cause it's a synch A.C.M.E. didn't get a hold of them otherwise they wouldn't care so much to get you two. Afterall, it's Red they want."

"So, what you mean is, in the short term we play a little "information, please"?" Zack asked.

"Yup. I got a good processor on this thing, but even that will take some doing" Player shrugged.

"How do you suggest this will take, Player?" Shadowsan asked.

"Which runs us into our second bit of ticking clock bad news" Player continued, spinning his fidget spinner. "We have about eight days, max; before my parents get home, and by the time we plan our next move, cross-reference security footage the world over and let the heat to die down so you guys can start searching unabated…it'll take about three days."

"Ugh!" Zack groaned.

"Buuuuuuuut…" Player reached under his table and pulled out several bags of Lays brand ruffles potato chips.

"BBQ chips! You remembered!" Zack boomed. Player tossed him the bag. Zack read the label and was instantly skeptical. "Wait a minute? I asked for BBQ, what is this "all dressed chip" nonsense?" he asked.

"It's a big staple here in the great white north" Player explained. "You'll like them Zack, it's like eating maple syrup, ketchup, and poutine all rolled into one."

"You mean the French fries drenched in what should be marinating my Thanksgiving turkey? No thanks! This is un-American!" Zack then paused. "Oh, right" he opened the bag and gave it a whiff. "Who eats ketchup potato chips, anyway?"

"Yeah, I never understood that either" Player said. "But they're good."

"I'll be the judge of that" Zack shoved a chip into his mouth. "Meh, they're okay, I guess" he shrugged, then shoved a few chips into his face-mouth.

"Okay, that should placate him for a day" Shadowsan nodded. "What have you uncovered so far?"

"Very little. I did manage to get this photo of Carmen and Ivy leaving this sewer here in the center of town, but then the camera literally gets disabled the second they leave it. That was their last known online position, it goes black after that."

Player and Shadowsan looked at the grainy footage of Carmen helping Ivy out of the sewer. They were literally the only ones around and there were no identifying markings of anything anywhere. There were no shadows, or headlights.

"This is it?" he asked.

"This is it" Player nodded.

"Let's get to work, then."

While Shadowsan and Player were doing something productive, Zack decided to do the opposite, because that's just the kind of guy he is. Zack threw more chips into his face and became fascinated by Player's bookshelf.

"Hey Playuh, what's with all these books you got here?"

"Most of them are encyclopedias, they're pretty obsolete these days. What do you think Wikipedia's for?"

"Writing term papers?"

"Exactly. The rest are just comics and my Xbox games collection."

"Wicked! What's your gamertag we can—whoa!"

Zack started to pull a few games from the shelf, which he did too hard and almost lost balance, So he grabbed onto the book shelf which then proceeded to fall on top of him. Player made a facepalm.

"I should not be surprised by these chicaneries" Shadowsan spat.

"Let's help him up" Player and Shadowsan picked the book shelf off of a wounded Zack.

"Tell me the chips are okay?" Zack woozily asked.

"Hey, Zack. This is probably gonna be very boring, especially considering it's just a bunch of scanning through code and camera feeds; so, do you like TV?"

"Does a bear do his business in the woods?" Zack rhetorically asked.

"Yes, but this is Canada, the world is a bear's bathroom" Player sighed. He moved Zack to his futon and gave him his Apple TV remote while Shadowsan picked up his mess. "You can watch whatever you want. I have all the streaming sites: HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, Showtime—and if you want the latest releases you happen to know a world-class hacker who can get them to you…after we send them money for their trouble" Player explained, ever the white-hat hacker.

"Do you have Netflix?" Zack asked.

"Duh."

"The king of the streaming sites!" The two then looked right into the camera and made a wink. "Okay, Netflix it is!" Zack then started to rummage through Player's Netflix page. "Huh, what's this Breaking Bad show everyone's raving about? Ivy saw it already, I never thought it was for me."

"Raving? It's been completed for five years, at least" Player explained as he was printing photos for their string board.

"It has since become required viewing at V.I.L.E. Academy" Shadowsan added.

"Great reviews, and Netflix says it's a match so, whatever you say, Netflix!" Zack started the Pilot, lazily named…Pilot.

"That should keep him busy for the long-haul" Player whispered.

"Good."

"Okay let's see, what do we got here…" Zack said, describing the opening scene. "Desert…Joshua trees…random pair of pants falling on the—oh, look at that old crusty Winnebago. Jeesh, those things were screaming, gas guzzling rust buckets. Hey! 1977 called it wants its RV back!" Zack jokingly called to the TV, ever the car guy. "Okay, Bryan Cranston in his underwear—there's a sight I never thought I'd see" Zack said, shoveling chip dust into his mouth and continuing to watch the show.

And back to Carmen, because Zack's shenanigans are only fun in short doses. She was still clearly hallucinating as her time was elapsing, but this particular ghostly hallucination belonged none other than to her former classmate, enemy, and now friend: Graham.

"How you doing, kiddo?" he asked in his Australian accent, but you knew that already.

"It's you. Gray—Graham."

"Look, Carmen, the other guys are right. You gotta snap outta this."

"Look, I know it sounds crazy—listen to me, I'm trying to reason with a hallucination in my head…but, you're not real. You were never real. You were always just a figment of my imagination."

"No, come on. You know me."

"I did…I thought I did."

"Seriously though, it is me, Graham. Come on, you must remember" he insisted.

"The more I keep thinking about it, honestly, the less I believe" Carmen frowned. "You were one of the best though. I'm glad was able to dream you up."

"But I'm not a dream, Carmen. Well, I mean, right now I am."

"You always were. Carmen Sandiego was just a weird fake part of my life. I have to pay my debt to society. I have to prove to the world I'm not some monster who runs from her crimes" Carmen explained. "That's what I was always doing. I was running from what I had done."

"But apparently you've helped so many people. I don't know much about you but I know you work in the shadows and you help those in need. You've certainly helped me out" Graham explained.

"But you don't understand, you are not real. None of this is, and the more and more I think about it, the crazier I feel" Carmen added.

"Alright, well if I'm not real, it wouldn't be so bad just to talk, right?" Graham asked. "Instead of me prying and pleading, maybe you can use your brain just to catch up. Pretend you were once Carmen Sandiego…or explain to me who you really are."

"Really?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah, it would be nice. We could humor one another."

Carmen playfully rolled her eyes and blushed. She figured this was a hallucination, but at least this could in fact be a pleasant one. So the two started to talk. Not having anything left to lose Carmen told Graham everything about his past life as Crackle, considering he had no memory of it. It was a nice game of catchup between the two of them. Carmen never wanted it to end, they talked for minutes, which turned to hours, which turned to over a day. And she never skipped a beat.

A day or so had now went by and back in Canada; Player and Shadowsan were burning the midnight oil trying to come up with some sort of clue, but were coming up with nada.

"Nothing in the U.K." Shadowsan explained.

"Yeah, Western Europe's a wash" Player added, rubbing his eyes. "How's the boy doing?"

Zack was now drooling over Breaking Bad, literally, he was drooling much like Player's Grandma, who had yet to awaken…someone should check on her, jeez. "No Walter! You can save her! You need to save Jane before she overdoses! What would Jesse think if he ever found out!?" Zack called.

"He is fine" Shadowsan nodded.

Skipping back again to the prison. A day certainly had passed. Carmen would quiet herself when the guard would stop by to send in her tray of food to the slit in the door at the bottom. Graham watched as it was sent through.

"Chow time, Riley Riverside!" came Brunt's voice from outside the door before walking away.

"What is that slop?" Graham asked as Carmen put the tray on her lap.

"Cream of meatloaf, creamed corn, and creamed…I hope that's oatmeal, and a glass of water that looks like it came from a mud puddle" Carmen sighed, she took her spork and shoveled some creamed slop into her mouth. "I'd offer you some but…you're a—you know."

"No worries. It's kind of nice being a shadowy ghost thing" Graham explained.

"Don't worry, you're not missing much, anyway" Carmen said. She then got a weird taste in her mouth. She reached in and pulled out something too chewy for her to eat. It didn't exactly look edible. "Eww" she flicked it away.

"You know what's funny?" Graham asked.

"What?"

"You and me never had us a romance."

Carmen blushed at the very thought of that. "I mean, I thought we were just friends. You were literally the brother I never had."

"Who said I had to be brother?"

"Is this you trying to bust a move on me, or something?"

"I mean, if I am in fact a hallucination, it wouldn't mean anything, now would it?" Graham cheekily asked.

"Now you're the cheeky one" Carmen joked.

"I mean, what do we have to lose, you know?"

"Nothing, but it would be like kissing a hologram" Carmen added, shoveling another spork-full of slop into her mouth. "Besides, do you really want my slop-breath?"

Graham sat on the edge of her cot. "It'd be worth it."

Carmen smiled and blushed again. Sure she thought of Graham as a big brother, but that didn't mean they were in fact brother and sister…I really hope that's not some sort of thing they do in the future of the show otherwise there's gonna be a lot of Fanfics that have gone dark…

But the two locked eyes. Carmen attempted to lean in for a kiss, where in fact she didn't get anything but air, considering Graham was a ghostly hallucination. But even the thought of kissing him seemed nice.

"Guess you were right" Graham said embarrassed.

"It's okay, for a moment, it was nice" The two then continued their talk from there.

Back to Canada, the day was turning into another. Shadowsan had made good use of his time, making a string board that would make Chase Devineaux proud. Zack had barely budged from Player's futon, eating bag after bag of well-dressed chips.

"I still can't believe Jesse just killed Gale! I know he had no choice but I mean come on! I could literally feel his emotion!" Zack screamed.

"That was nearly a season ago, already" Shadowsan reminded him.

"What the heck am I gonna watch when all this is done?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

Player then came back into his room. "She finally woke up" he explained. "Sorry guys, we were playing Scrabble. I needed her to think I was alone. Nothing makes her more suspicious when I spend all day in my room alone. She'll be out for another two days at least."

"Good to hear. Look at this I found" Shadowsan began. "These cameras we had difficulty accessing even with your encryptions."

"Could be a fluke?" Player guessed. "Some security is better than others. Some guys get a good anti-virous software without even knowing it."

"But these are cameras to a hospital in Burbank, California" Shadowsan explained. "Just a random hospital."

"Hmm, you might be onto something. Plus, it's the only lead we have, even if it may be a smokescreen."

"Boom! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yes! Take that Gus Fring—whoa! His face literally came off!" Zack called.

"Hence the name: Face Off" Shadowsan rolled his eyes.

"I get it now!"

"Okay, let's keep digging into that hospital" Player agreed, getting back to work.

"And hurry, Zack's running out of show."

And back once more to Carmen. She and Graham talked so much they literally knocked each other out. Carmen had fallen asleep, as she spent the previous day not sleeping, but talking. She would awaken to more darkness the following day, but there was a presence looming over her.

Carmen opened her eyes and was shocked. "Wha—what?"

It was, well…it was HER! It was Carmen Sandiego, dressed in her complete red duster and fedora. Carmen was stunned to see this vision of herself. We'll call her Sandiego, so you're not confused.

"You're her."

"I'm you, you mean" Sandiego explained.

"Look, this is all in my head, okay? I am Felina Montoya. I am a convicted felon who just wants to spend her life making amends. Is that too much to ask?"

"It wouldn't be, if you actually killed someone. Listen Carmen, I don't know what's going on but there's something rotten around here, and it has V.I.L.E.'s name written all over it."

"I am through entertaining these thoughts and delusions!" Carmen snapped. "V.I.L.E. isn't real and neither are you!"

"They're not delusions! You are Carmen Sandiego!"

"No! I am Felina Montoya! I have a family! You are just some…some made up fantasy!"

"You're nuts" Sandiego pouted. "You need to understand—"

"I understand that I need to forget about all this! Forget about my coma and try to move on! I need to make my mark on this world, and it certainly isn't going to involve stealing rare paintings from other thieves!"

"Then I'm afraid we might have to do this the hard way."

Sandiego lunged at Carmen and she saw a white light.

"NO!"

Carmen then awoke in a pool of sweat. That was merely a dream…It was a dream, right? She could barely think straight, and it was too dark for her to adjust her eyes. Carmen sighed, happy that was only another dream.

"Okay…I tried so hard to forget about my own life that it literally drove me insane" she said to herself. "All this proved that my brain was trying to punish me. I gotta make this right. No matter the cost."

Her scattered thinking was interrupted by the clanking sound of keys. And the door opened up with a blinding light once again hitting Carmen. Brunt stood in the door way, her massive body acting as a natural shield for the light.

"Alright, Valerie Ventura, on your feet" she ordered.

Carmen nodded and quickly followed Brunt out, hopefully leaving that terrible place aside.

"You're gonna be a good little girl now, right?" Brunt asked.

"Yes-yes, I promise. I really—really promise" she assured her.

"Alright, let's collect your cellie and then it's off to the showers. You stink. By the way, you both got KP duty until further notice. Warden's orders. It was either that or a month of solitary" Brunt explained.

"Thank you" Carmen nodded.

They walked down the hall and opened up Ivy's cell, she was just starring at the wall.

"Three days already?"

"Time flies when you only got your thoughts. Now let's get outta here" Brunt led them away from solitary, and the two were finally ready for their next adventure.

It was late the final night at Player's house. The boy had fallen asleep while Shadowsan was looking up notes and floor plans of the hospital in question.

"I never remember this being a V.I.L.E. front" he murmured.

"Does it look promising?" Zack asked, it being the first non-Breaking Bad thing he's said in days.

"It might, but it almost seems too easy. The more I look at the place the more the red flags jump out at me. It's almost as if they want us to go find Carmen and your sister. They have many wards where they conduct medical experiments, it would be the perfect place to house prisoners without deriding any suspicion. And the cameras were turned off for the day the two went missing in France until the following morning" Shadowsan explained. "They wanted us to have difficulty getting past their security so we would focus on them."

"So, it is a trap?" Zack asked.

"Whether it is, or isn't, Zack, it is the only lead we have" Shadowsan said, before yawning. He crimped the bridge of his nose with his fingers, he was tired, and starting to get delirious. "How long was it we should stay here before searching, again?" he asked.

The window was open and Zack heard a car pull up to the house across the street, waiting for someone. The song Get Out Alive was blasting on the radio, definitely loud enough for Zack to hear.

"Hey, Three Days Grace!" he called.

"Oh right, thanks" Shadowsan nodded, but then recoiled. "Who is Grace?"


	4. Feel Good, LLC

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmen begins her "new-old" life as Felina Montoya, where she falls into her Carmen Sandiego and is forced to begin therapy with an unlikely doctor, but now she may have a new edge given her mob boss reputation, meanwhile Zack and Shadowsan begin their journey in the land of Burbank while Zack uses his Breaking Bad know-how to get them out of a jam. Comments and kudos always appreciated!

After a few twists and turns through the cell block, Brunt led Carmen and Ivy to the shower area, which was about as ancient as the rest of the prison, sans the modern administration building. Contained within were the ugliest off-white tiled floors and walls, most of it cracked and smashed in, and above the tiled walls were regular walls with musky and chipping paint. The shower heads were rusted for the most part and dripping.

A catwalk was above the showers to get a view of any unsavory shenanigans going on. Brunt stood behind a small wall where the shower area began, handing the two a bar of soap and a very uncomfortable towel.

Now hold still, Barbara, Santa Barbara" Brunt ordered Carmen. "Do not mess up your wounds, now" she said sternly, gently undressing Carmen's bandages. "Do your best to avoid messing with your hair. Now I'll be watching, so both of you better separate, I don't anymore talk of escape attempts" she warned.

Carmen and Ivy looked at one another and started to undress.

But this story is not rated for such chicaneries, so we will transition over to Canada. Player was the only one awake, getting an adequate night's sleep as he actually got to sleep in his own bed. Shadowsan had fallen asleep at his computer desk. Zack had fallen asleep at the futon, well into season five of Breaking Bad after a solid three day binge of the show and living off of well-dressed potato chips.

The two were awaken by the opening and closing of Player's bedroom door, holding a breakfast-in-bed platter of pancakes and other breakfast accoutrement. "Rise and shine, guys!"

Shadowsan awoke with a yawn, while Zack was startled awake.

"Gah! Walt killed Mike!" he blurted.

"You guys got a big day ahead. Now that the heat's died off a little, I managed to charter you guys a private jet from our local airport here all the way to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. I also got you guys some fake ID's, better disguises, and I made breakfast" Player explained.

"Did you actually make this?" Shadowsan asked with skepticism.

"Okay fine, grandma made it." The two then looked at him funny. "What? I don't know how to use the stove. I'm a computer genius, not Gordon Ramsey."

"Shouldn't we be quiet?" Shadowsan asked.

"Nah, she's asleep already."

"She's slept longer than she's been awake. Is…is something wrong with her?" Zack asked.

"We're not sure. Anyway, eat up, your flight leaves in two hours" Player directed them, as they shoveled sustenance into their faces.

Now freshly showered and in new uniforms, the girls were directed by Brunt to the main cafeteria, where they were just in time for lunch. Much like the rest of the prison, the theme was old and outdated. Metal prison trays cluttered the tables as did the rowdy bunch eating their slop on said trays.

Carmen had on a new set of bandages which Brunt put the fear of herself into her if she were to remove them as it could make her injury worse. Carmen had too many concussions not to believe her so she complied…despite that not making so much sense.

"Chow time, eat up now" Brunt ordered them before ushering them into a line.

Carmen and Ivy grabbed themselves a metal tray and waited for their tray quadrants to be filled with sloppy food-like byproduct. "Hurray, more slop. I kinda miss solitary already, no one trying to steal your bread, or your cookies" Ivy explained. "Ugh, what I wouldn't give for a slice of Lombardi's. Anyway, I forgot to ask, how are you feeling, Felina?"

"I actually came to a moment of peace" Carmen explained. "But I have one request."

"Name it, cellie."

"When I—you know, ruled Chicago the way I did, I dedicated my life to help those less fortunate, and maybe I went a little too far sometimes. But, I was helping. Then I killed Sal Russano and I besmirched my name. I think that's why I dreamed up Carmen Sandiego. I think this was a sign of what I could be and what I was escaping from" Carmen explained. "But I need to earn who I was. It's more than paying a debt to society, it's me deserving to be the good person I once was. I don't deserve to be Felina Montoya."

"What?" Ivy asked, perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

"In solitary I had all these visions of people Carmen Sandiego knew. People I dreamed up, all telling me I was Carmen Sandiego. I think that is a sign. Temporarily I need to earn the right for my own sanity. That's why I would appreciate it if you referred to me as Carmen…at least until I can prove I deserve to be myself again."

"Felina—"

"I mean it, Ivy. I'm not crazy, I know I'm Felina Montoya. This'll be my time to prove I'm worthy of that name. Just humor me" Carmen insisted.

Ivy rolled her eyes, but was content with Carmen's decision. "Fine, but only because I like ya…but I'm not calling you Sandiego though."

"That's fine" Carmen nodded and the two got their piles of slop plopped into their trays. They finally came to the piece de resistance, a package of three shortbread cookies, sort of like the ones you buy at Starbucks for exorbitant prices.

"Cookies?" Carmen asked.

"Oh baby. These things are like currency in here" Ivy licked her lips. Carmen got a confused look, which then turned into her idea face. But we'll get back to those two later for we must transition to the skies.

Zack was falling asleep on the charter plane as it raced across middle America and on its way to sunny and scenic Burbank, California.

His mind was still on Breaking Bad, still watching on a TV on the plane. He was finishing up the first part of the two parts of season five of the show. Zack was on the edge of his seat as the episode neared its catharsis. "Gasp! Hank just figured out Walt is Heisenberg! And that he's been the drug kingpin he's been trying to hunt down this entire time!"

"Wait until you get to the end."

"Will I cry?"

"Probably, yes."

Their flight continued on, nearing their target: Burbank. A nice suburb-like city in the San Fernando Valley, known as The Valley. It's where the "Valley-speak" comes from. Most of this earthquake prone basin is part of the city of Los Angeles, but is also home to Burbank, the city of Calabasas on its western side, and smacked in the northeast, the tiny city of San Fernando. The Bob Hope Airport, also known as the Hollywood/Burbank Airport, sits on the outskirts of Burbank and partially in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Zack and Shadowsan, now in better disguises, touched down, and once again found themselves in an Uber, heading over to Burbank Central Hospital. Conveniently located about a block from Walt Disney studios and about a few miles from Warner Bros. studios.

The two stared up at the hospital after exiting their Uber. Both again had better disguises and fake ID's so getting discovered was not top on their priorities list. "So, what's the plan?" Zack asked.

"First, we need to break your leg so you get admitted. I will be your concerned friend. While the hospital staff tend to you, I will go to the upstairs experimental wing and see if I cannot find any clues as to Carmen and Ivy's whereabouts."

Zack was understandably not a fan of this plan. But then, perhaps the sleep deprivation or the junk food was getting to him, but his brain hatched an idea. "Oooooooor, what if we could muscle our way in, and injure nobody…especially me. You're always saying how ninjas are sneaky and deceptive? Well this is the perfect way to simply waltz in without wall-crawling and smoke pellet throwing. I thought about this—"

"Do not tell me you got this idea from Breaking Bad!" Shadowsan warned.

"Okay, then I won't tell you."

"Good."

"But I did."

Shadowsan did a face palm. "You know, as much as I would love to find the girls and end this, I really just want to see you fail" Shadowsan hissed.

"That's the spirit!" Zack put his arm around an unamused Shadowsan, "I'll set the scene: season four, episode eleven: Crawl Space…" They entered the hospital, poised for Zack's "genius" plan.

At the prison, Carmen and Ivy now had their trays filled with various semi-edible mounds of what looked like food, a piece of stale white bread, plastic cup filled with the gritty tasting off-brand Kool-Aid you give to old folks at the home, and packet of shortbread cookies which looked good enough to eat.

The two stared down the masses of black and white striped outfitted women sitting at the various tables and wondered where would be an appropriate place to eat their slop. Eventually, Carmen spotted a seemingly empty table.

"There's one!" Ivy quickly sprinted and sat down, and Carmen slowly joined her, plopping down at the seat next to her. Carmen could see the sprawling graffiti carved into the table, the usual fare: being a prison gang tag or some other expletive. Though before the two could enjoy their slop and cookies, someone made themselves comfortable just across the table from them. It was a smirking Tigress.

"Beat it" Ivy hissed after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Nah, I don't think so. But I will help myself to your cookies" Tigress threatened. Ivy quickly pulled her tray towards herself.

"Over your dead body, Sheena."

Tigress did one of those catty winces before turning her attention to an oddly quiet Carmen. "What's wrong, Montoya? Cat got your tongue?"

In her so-called dreams Carmen knew Tigress as this narcissistic sociopath who was always obsessed with one-upping her. But I guess in the so-called real world, she was really trying to one-up her in the biggest way possible. Carmen smirked, and nonchalantly started to eat her slop.

"You know Ti—Sheena, I feel sorry for you."

"Really?" Tigress asked with a sarcastic eyebrow raised. "And how so?"

"What they get you for, huh? Shoplifting? What, your privilege doesn't get you free tote bags at Neiman Marcus?"

Tigress's sarcasm was slowly turning into rage. Ivy's tough-girl routine was also fading as she watched her cellmate antagonize the very person who put her into a coma not so long ago. "Excuse me?" Tigress asked.

"Oh, you're excused" Carmen smiled. "Look, we all know you're here for something mundane and involving stolen goods, no? I'm here because I take people like you and shake them upside down until money falls out. And I killed someone who thought he could do it better than I could. Yeah, you might have gotten a good sucker punch on me, but I know deep down you're just a scared little kitten trying to establish yourself as the big 'Tigress' you wish you were by trying to take down the lion…that's me by the way. But I'm awake now, and I'm not going to let that happen again. I'm in a pretty good mood, I'm feeling good—all things considered, so take your tray and move on before you get hurt" Carmen finished.

Tigress's left eye twitched. She stood, swatting Carmen's tray off the table and grabbing her by the collar. Other prisoners subtly listening in on the conversation crowded around the two of them. Ivy was frightened, but Carmen wasn't moved.

"Say that again and it won't be the infirmary you'll be going to. It'll be—"

"The morgue, right?" Carmen asked.

"You're asking for it, Montoya."

"Am I? You got a good sucker punch on me before. We're in front of one another now. You'd actually have to fight. More importantly, given what you know about me, my past, and my connections…you'd better tread lightly" Carmen threatened.

All became quiet. Carmen's smirk didn't fade while Tigress's look of anger turned to anguish. Then after a few moments of eyeing up Carmen, it turned to fear and dread. After. A moment, she let go of Carmen to the astonishment of everyone.

"Good kitty" Carmen mocked. "Now, about your cookies?"

Tigress chuckled nervously before shoving her package of shortbreads over to Carmen, who opened them up and ate one of them triumphantly. "Buh-bye now" she waved. Tigress again put on a scowl before taking her tray of food and walking away.

Carmen handed Ivy another cookie from the pack. "That was amazing!" she said.

"Don't you mean: wicked awesome?"

"Heck no!" Ivy snarled.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

As Carmen and Ivy got up, they were immediately ambushed by Professor Maelstrom, who had his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Prof—Dr. Maelstrom" Carmen said with a slight gulp.

"Ms. Montoya."

"How much of that did you see?" she asked nervously.

"Enough. I think it's time you and I began our observations, you're past due."

"Right, yeah. Of course."

Gunnar ushered Carmen away from the cafeteria, leaving a nervous Ivy in her wake. "I'll see you later Fel—Carmen!" she called.

Back at the hospital. Zack and Shadowsan conned their way inside without the need of injury. Zack gave a knock to the director of the hospital, Leon Sandoval. The two stood outside of the door, triumphant they had found their suspected target with little to no interference from hospital staff.

"Are you certain this will work?" Shadowsan asked Zack.

"You said so yourself, Breaking Bad is required viewing at V.I.L.E., I figure, if it can work then it can work now" he shrugged.

"Fine. But when it does not work, I am never speaking to you again."

"A risk I am willing to take."

The door opened a few moments later, and an older gentlemen, Leon Sandoval stood in his office doorway.

"May I help you both?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks" Zack spurted. He and Shadowsan muscled their way inside, to Leon's befuddlement.

"Hey, you can't just—what is this about?"

"I'll tell you what this is about, Mr. Sandoval; this is about you and I doing everything we can to keep Shadowsan happy" Zack explained

"S-Shadowsan, who's Shadowsan?" Leon asked.

"This is Shadowsan" Zack pointed to his ninja partner. "Shadowsan. Are you happy?"

"Reasonably" Shadowsan said as dry and as flatly as humanly possible.

"And uh, what would make you unhappy?" Zack asked.

"This insolent moron not doing as he's told."

"I see. And if you were to become unhappy, Mr. Sandoval wouldn't care for that?"

"I doubt that very much" Shadowsan nodded.

"Well there you have it. Let's go check those patient records" Zack happily said, closing the office door and putting his arm around Leon's shoulder. "We're walking, we're swinging our feet. Nice office you have here by the way" and they made their way over to Leon's very nice desk.

"Okay, so we are looking for two individuals in particular who may or may not be held in this hospital" Zack explained.

"I cannot give you that information" Leon insisted. "You would need permission from the patient."

"Could you tell us at least if they were here?" Shadowsan asked.

"Well, yes. That couldn't hurt. But you would need their permission to visit them."

"I'm feeling less happy" Shadowsan threatened.

"Um, buuuuuut I could make an exception, heh-heh" Leon gulped.

"And now I am happy."

"Okay, who are you looking for?"

"Two females, a redhead who looks just like him" Shadowsan began, pointing to Zack. "And a Hispanic woman, long brown hair, was probably wearing red when she was admitted."

"If they were even admitted on hospital records" Zack added.

"Impossible, it is a requirement to be in our system. If they were here I would know about it."

"What if say; they were in your medical experiment wing?" Shadowsan asked.

"That is through a different division, Providence Medical, LLC" Leon began. "They have a corporate office in Sherman Oaks, but I simply do not have that information here."

Shadowsan scowled. "Ooh, he's not looking so happy" Zack warned.

Leon gulped. "B-bu-bu-bu-but I can assure you I-I-I was just over there, and there are currently no patients conducting case studies at this time" he assured them effusively. "Not in two weeks, at least. We have a case study for a new series of surgical scalpels next month, but that is currently all we have planned, I swear!"

"I see, and which floor is this on?" Shadowsan asked

"Why, the seventh. The entire floor."

Shadowsan pulled Zack aside for a moment. "Keep this sycophant busy, I am going to go search the experiment wing" he whispered.

"What? Are you kidding me? This whole thing is hanging on you being angry."

"You know where to find me, and if not, be a ninja" Shadowsan sarcastically said.

"Why do I always gotta be the distraction?"

"Because you're good at it, Ron Stoppable" Shadowsan condescendingly patted Zack on the cheek before taking his leave. Zack scoffed and went back over to Leon and the two continued over the admittance records.

Carmen had been led by Maelstrom not in cuffs through the prison and over to the infirmary, and more specifically his office jutting off of the infirmary. It was a nice wraparound wood paneled office with two comfy chairs facing each other, an oak desk with office chair, and one of those long therapist chair bed things that people always cry on. On a glass coffee table separating the two chairs, a box of tissues rested on top of them.

Carmen debated over where to sit but Gunnar merely shrugged, and she sat in the first available chair. The mad doctor-professor got out his light pen and checked her eyes and did a basic vitals check.

"Everything seems good physically" he explained. "But how are you set mentally?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one I notice you had Ivy O'Halagan, your cellmate, refer to you as Carmen, and this was after a stutter…why is that?"

Carmen shrugged. "It's complicated. Extremely complicated."

"We have time" Gunnar said dryly sitting at the chair across from Carmen.

"What, you're a therapist, too?"

"When the mood strikes me. I do have a medical doctorate in basic medicine and psychiatry, so I should say I am an expert at both. Now, you had a massive concussion and were in a coma for a week. You also awoke with what can be conservatively described as severe amnesia. I recall the name Carmen Sandiego being floated around. Why don't we discuss that?"

Carmen rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to relive this so-called life. But, perhaps getting more closure was just what the proverbial doctor ordered. She figured simply leaving was out of the question so she would be forced to humor Gunnar's request.

"How long was I out? In real time?"

"Eight days by my calculations."

Carmen did a double take. "Eight days? It felt like twenty years of my life went by. One minute I'm a baby on this island being trained how to be a master thief, and the next I'm awake in a prison where I was a former mob boss. How's that for your analysis?" Carmen asked Gunnar.

"It's certainly a start" Gunnar sighed.

"You know this isn't going to work, Dr. Maelstrom, I can't talk about my personal life" Carmen quipped.

"Really? And why is that?"

"I-I feel like I barely know who I am. Like my life was overshadowed by this weird coma dream. It's like my brain is desperately trying to make me forget Felina Montoya."

"Then why refer to yourself by the very being who is consuming you?"

"Because…because I need to earn my name back. I don't deserve to be Felina Montoya right now. I killed Sal Russano, and I will never forgive myself. But maybe, just maybe I can make it right, and deserve to be Felina Montoya again" she explained.

Gunnar thought for a moment. "I also heard you were in solitary for the last few days. These revelations wouldn't have anything to do with your time spent there, would they?"

Carmen looked away. Obviously she didn't want to go into detail of the hallucinations she felt. They felt too real for her. She didn't want him to assume she was this insane basket case. She wanted to ignore him, but this would prove to be futile.

"Felina…" he insisted.

"Call me Carmen" she demanded. "Please."

"Alright. What can you tell me about this coma dream you experienced? Must've been quite eye-opening."

"It was. It was weird though. You were there." Carmen began.

"I was?" Gunnar asked in disbelief.

"A lot of people in this prison were there. Brunt, Ivy, Sheena, and so many others. I dunno, I guess in trying to create this new world maybe my brain couldn't find any new people to create."

"Oftentimes your dreams feature people in your life, they are trying to make a psychological message to you" Gunnar explained. "Do you truly believe that message was to pay a debt to Russano?"

"No. No they were all trying to tell me to wake up. They were saying I was living in some sort of dream. I've tried, I thought this was a dream. But I know the truth now. They were trying to control me. And they won't. I simply want to prove I'm stronger than some fantasy and prove I am worthy of my name and the life I once led. That's all. That's all" Carmen repeated.

Gunnar raised an eyebrow and did that move where you pinch the bridge of your nose in passive-aggressive frustration.

"Call me crazy all you want. But this is for me, this is how I am going to spend my life in here."

"You seemed to spend it four nights ago trying to escape as I recall correctly" Gunnar pointed out.

"While that may be true, that was before I remembered the truth. I'm awake, Dr. Maelstrom. I'm awake in more ways than I've ever imagined. I got to live two different lives. Lives of two very extraordinary women. No one in the whole world can say they did that. I'm not going to throw this opportunity away and let it go by the wayside. No amount of Prozac, lithium, or Zoloft you can give me is going to change that. But that's not to say this will be a waste of time" Carmen said referring to the therapy. "I just want you to realize I'm not a crazy person."

"No one's accusing you of that" Gunnar assured her.

"Well, it seems that way" Carmen crossed her arms.

"And, what do you intend to do in order to earn your name back?" Gunnar asked.

"I-I don't know—yet. But I will. In my past life I helped the less fortunate. I extorted large companies to treat their employees better, fixed labor unions so their members received better benefits, among many other things" Carmen explained. "But how can I do any of that here in prison?" she asked.

"I suppose that is a conundrum isn't it?" Gunnar asked.

"Well, no matter how you say it, I'm still feeling good. I feel better now than I think I ever did in my entire life. Like my brain is acting at full capacity now. And to be honest, I don't think I would trade that in for anything right now."

"Even your freedom?" Gunnar asked.

Carmen was speechless at that thought. Sure freedom sounded great, but she knew she didn't deserve it, and she knew she wanted to help people. But how? And at what cost? All of this continued to rack her brain with more questions than answers.

But from one hospital to another. Shadowsan had made his way to the completely empty seventh floor, which as Leon stated and I cannot stress this enough, was completely vacant. It was very sterile. The floor was lined with glass-windowed rooms with medical tables and supplies with focus group like rooms jutting next to each one. A central hallway separated everything.

Shadowsan quietly made his search throughout the floor. Nothing was out of place and it was clear after the first three passes that neither Carmen or Ivy was housed there. The former ninja was mesmerized at the sterile and cleaned conditions. Nothing was out of place…or was it?

After yet another pass of the floor, he finally noticed something. Shadowsan saw a small opened space next to a bed and a life-support cart. In this space he noticed something white overturned on the floor. Upon further inspection, it was a key card, complete with one of those flimsy metal coat clips for someone to hang it on their shirt.

While Shadowsan made his search, Zack and Leon had fruitlessly looked over the patient records for at least five times now. At this point Zack was just stalling for time trying to do two things. One: provide a distraction for Shadowsan, and two: establish that he was intimidating enough for Leon to continue to take orders from him.

"And that makes the sixth time we've tried to look for your friends."

"Check again" Zack ordered. "They gotta be here."

"Mr. Whatever-your-name-is, you have given me no names or any pertinent information and you've seen for yourself regardless that they're not here!" Leon shouted in frustration. "Now, if you'd like—"

They were interrupted by a doctor barging into Leon's office. "Mr. Sandoval?"

"Not now, Ted! I'm busy being shaken down over here!"

"Yes, I see that sir, but there are some very angry people in snazzy blue jackets outside and they're being very belligerent" the doctor explained.

"Blue jackets? Belligerent?" Zack quickly ran to the window and saw the front of the hospital was crawling with A.C.M.E. "How did they find us? I gotta warn Shadowsan!" Zack quickly ran out of the office, then briefly ducked back in. "Uh, yeah, what floor was the—"

"Seventh!" Leon deadpanned, out of patience.

"Thanks, guy!" Zack ran out again, leaving Leon and Dr. Ted confused and annoyed.

Back to Shadowsan, who was studying the card. It was an ID badge alright, for Providence Medical, LLC. What was strange was who it belonged to. The photograph had a name: Dexter Wolfe, with Wolfe's photo being above. Shadowsan remembered that face all too well, it was Carmen's dad alright. He was interrupted by the commotion outside. He opened up the blinds of a window and noticed the A.C.M.E. swarm out front.

"This doesn't bode well."

Downstairs, Zack was frantically spamming the 'up' button on the elevator. But from the opposing sides of the hallway, who should confront the boy but Chase Devineaux and Julia Argent. Both very angry and brandishing weapons.

"Come on baby, come on, don't do this to me!"

"Freeze!" He turned to see Chase and Julia, trapping his escape.

"Ah, crud. I even have a good disguise!" Zack complained.

"Do not move!" Chase demanded.

"You are surrounded!" Julia added.

"But wait! If you take my life you will not know where I've hidden Carmen Sandiego!" Zack boomed trying to be clever. This seemingly pacified the two agents, and they lowered their guns.

"Alright, where in the world is she then?" Chase asked.

Suddenly, the elevator dinged and the door opened. "Ooh, sorry, time's up! Thanks for playing!" Zack jumped in and pressed the close-door button, then seven, right before Chase and Julia could make it to the door.

"I hate it when they do that!" Chase complained.

On the seventh floor, Shadowsan was heading to the elevator, but he heard it coming up. When it dinged for his floor, he hid behind a chair, and was marginally relieved when he saw Zack sprint out of the elevator.

"Shadowsan, Shadowsan!"

The ninja came out from his hiding place. "I know, I saw them too. Some distraction you were!"

"Oh, a thousand pardons. But it turns out a man is not afraid of you when a horde of guys in blue coats with guns have surrounded you and want to shoot first, ask questions later! And I'm assuming your search yielded little?"

"Plenty, actually" Shadowsan held up the ID badge. The two continued down the hallway, and heard the elevator ding again, this time they knew who was going to be on it. Both looked at one another.

"Stairs!" they said in unison.

Smash-cut to the roof. Shadowsan was on his phone calling Player as the two were now trapped on the rooftop.

"Player! We need helo extraction, now!"

"Roger! Got a chopper inbound!"

The two saw another one of those cool remote controlled helicopters fly towards the hospital roof. Zack wisely shut the door to the roof and wedged a found crowbar between the door handle and an exposed pipe which wrapped around the frame of the door, this was a smart distraction as when A.C.M.E. tried to invade the rooftop, they were marginally foiled. "And boom, distraction!"

"Impressive."

"So, what is that thing, anyhow?" Zack asked. The helicopter landed and the two jumped on just as A.C.M.E. broke through the door, but before they could try and shoot them down, the helicopter was quickly flying away from the scene.

"That was too close. Two in a row, we're getting lucky!"

"Third time's always the charm, so do not curse us!" Shadowsan warned him.

"So, you gonna stop insulting my intelligence and tell me the amazing clue you found, huh?" Zack asked. Shadowsan chucked the key card at him and Zack read it. His eyes got wide when he saw the face and the name. "No way!"

"Way" Shadowsan deadpanned.

"But he…he was…"

"I know, I was there, remember!?"

"This is getting way too heavy for me." Zack rubbed his head.

"Get scared later. Right now we need to get back to Player's house so he can decipher this card and which building it accesses. It's one step closer to finding the girls" Shadowsan insisted. Zack nodded, his face determined.

Back at the prison, Carmen had finished up with her therapy session with Gunnar. "And I should hope to see you tomorrow, Ms. Montoya?"

"You will, I promise" Carmen assured him.

Carmen turned and was greeted immediately by Brunt. "You just can't get away from me, can you, Montoya?"

"Apparently not. To what do I owe the pleasure this time, guard Brunt?" Carmen asked.

"You got yourself a visitor, now move it, Mary Modesto."

"A visitor?" Carmen's interest piqued.

"Yes, a visitor."

Who could it be? Carmen figured it could be a former connected person to her criminal enterprise, or maybe a fancy high-powered lawyer with some sort of loophole to get her a pardon or commute her sentence.

"You gonna tell me who it is, or keep me in suspense?"

Brunt stopped for a moment and turned her head to face Carmen. "Your mother."


End file.
